Posted on 06/28/2005 9:19:57 AM PDT by voletti
THIS week, for the fourth year in a row, President George Bush broke from affairs of state to address the Southern Baptist Convention. He promised the strict evangelical group, which has 16m members, that he would work hard to ban gay marriage and abortion, and that their “family values” were his values, too.
In the 1960s, many liberal Americans thought they had banned religion from the public square for good. Yet nowadays the president, the secretary of state and the House speaker accept the evangelical label. A packed prayer breakfast takes place every Thursday in Congress. And liberals regularly contend that one of America's two great parties is bent on creating a theocracy—backed by a solid core of somewhere between a quarter and a third of the population.
Why is the religious right as powerful as it is? The question puzzles even Americans. Their country, as a whole, is not getting more religious. The gap between it and European countries has increased, but largely because of Europe's growing godlessness. Most Americans say that religion is very important (60%) or fairly important (26%) in their lives, but Karlyn Bowman, a polling analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, points out that the figures were 75% and 20% in 1952.
What has changed is, first, the make-up of Protestant America and, second, the realignment of religious America's politics. The generally liberal mainline churches have declined, while harder outfits like the Southern Baptists have spurted forward. White evangelicals, who see the Bible as the literal truth (or darned close to it), now make up 26% of the population.
It is not just a matter of numbers but of confidence. Born-again Christians are no longer rural hicks; they are richer and better educated than the average American.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
Purly a political belief, and not a religious one. I'm puzzled why you'd attempt to associate your political views about the Mexican border with anything to do with the bible.
Bible
Do you worship the bible? I've heard about your kind.
Dean is going after a larger share of the white atheist vote. His actions make perfect sense when viewed from that point of reference.
Nope, nothing will ever take the Southern Baptist out of me. I know she is alive but her shows seem to be reruns since they seem to be before her stroke.
You're right. Lewis was, after all, English.
Who's talking about legalism? We are talking about the Holy Spirit of God indwelling the sons of God (Romans 9:8; other) and leading them into all truth (John 16:13). We are talking about the grace of God teaching the children of God to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and PURIFY unto himself a PECULIAR people, zealous of GOOD works. (Titus 2:11-14)
Well-said. Trying to steer a path around all the baloney in every nuance of organized Christianity is a daunting task.
p.s. Dwight Eisenhower was a big poker player at West Point. Years later he used his poker playing strategy to deal with the Red Chinese in the Straits of Tawain to keep the Reds from invading that island. Few people know about this because a war did not break out but Ike's poker skills were a big factor in preventing that war. Other poker playing Presidents who used their poker skills in office: Truman and Nixon.
How do you know about the life of Christ except by the pages of a book?
And the music to "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" was adapted from a tavern drinking song. :)
"If so, I've never understood its purpose"
I'm a 10th generation Mobilian, and as far as I know, it doesn't exactly have a purpose.
Mardi Gras, in the religious sense, is supposed to be a purification ritual, namely, you act out for those two weeks to expel all evil impulses from your conscience because you have to become extra-holy during lent. Pressure Valve in a sense.
But it's basically a tradition, a tradition tied in heavily to Southern antebellum customs, and in the case of Mobile and New Orleans, as a sign of resistance to "reconstruction" attempts.
LOL, grew up hearing that joke myself as a member of a SBC church. Still read the KJV but just because I enjoy the way it's written, it still speaks to me. But if I have to go back and read something to make sure I understand it, I'll use another translation
And somehow all the Protestant patrons are prevented from entering. Check out the history of the Mississippi steamboats. The were FILLED with gamblers. They even formed a vital part of the American character. And believe me, the MAJORITY of the gamblers were non-Catholic. Wyatt Earp if I'm not mistaken wasn't a Catholic and he RAN gambling establishments in the West. Doc Holliday also was non-Catholic (at least until the very end according to the "Tombstone" movie) and he made his living by gambling.
All I'm saying is that gambling isn't some exotic sin engaged in by non-Protestants or heathen furriners. Gambling, especially poker, is a FUNDAMENTAL part of the American character.
I used to go to a fundamental baptist church when I was younger. I know the legalism that is demanded of the members. If they don't comply by the long list of rules that are man made then they are disciplined harshly.
There's a lot of things I don't do out of true conviction not because there's some rule stating that I can't. There's a difference. I have learned that what I am convicted of as wrong for me may not be a problem for someone else.
Nobody living can take a peek at the original autographs. So if preservation of the Scriptures is not equal to inspiration of the Scriptures, then "inspiration" means nothing at all. If God didn't divinely superintend a preserved text of His words down through history to the current day, you would have NOTHING upon which to base any doctrine of the inspiration of the "original autographs." And By the way, "autographs" means original. To say, "original autographs" is such a terrible redundancy that I'm sure I would trust the writers of that doctrinal statement in the area of Biblical languages.
I think Lewis imbibed heavily at times. Mark it down to being a furriner.
That's true. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Scriptures, as well as the Preserver of the Scriptures, and the Teacher of the Scriptures to a believing heart (1 Thessalonians 2:13; John ch. 16).
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